Alternative Power sources - Question Re: Biodiesel Class, Oct 1 and 2, Atascadero Ca

Author

Question Re: Biodiesel Class, Oct 1 and 2, Atascadero Ca

GeekBoy

2005-09-22, 4:21 pm

"Steve Spence" <sspence@green-trust.org> wrote in message
news:fBzYe.11417$H24.6389@fe11.lga...
> Girl Mark's Biodiesel teaching schedule:
>
> Mark will be picking up the pump and plumbing parts for those who
> pre-pay for equipment by Wednesday Sept 28. Students have to provide
> their own electric water heater- it can be new or used. The plumbing
> for a processor costs about $200, paid to the instructor in advance.
> Please read the appleseed processor web page for more info about the
> system.

Does the water have to be electric? Why not propane or natural gas? Seems
that would be more better suited for effeciency.
>
> Alternately, you could order an Appleseed processor parts kit (any
> one) from www.biodieselwarehouse.com, www.b100supply.com, or
> www.utahbiodieselsupply.com, but it's possible that these businesses
> are back ordered at this time.
>
> Please note: I do not want students to pick up their own parts at the
> hardware store, because the equipment building portion of the seminar
> is short and if someone buys the wrong items it can be time-consuming
> to sort them out during the seminar.
>
> If you would like to build a system, please do the following:
> a. contact oct2class@girlmark.com by Wednesday Sept 28 (please note
> this is NOT the same as the email for registering for the course-
> please email caroline to sign up for the class in general)
> b. Send Mark money for plumbing- $200: please use PayPal and my
> paypal.com account: wrench@tinkersworkshop.org . This buys you
> processor parts. We will also build a wash tank but we may not have
> metal barrels for students to take home- I'll let you know on
> Wednesday the 28th.
> c. Bring an electric water heater- this can be about $225 at hardware
> stores, or can be free at the dump or from a plumber. Old ones are
> fine, they don't' usually leak, and we'll be cleaning out the
> limescale. Gas ones don't' work for this application…
> d. If you can't carry a water heater in your vehicle, you have the
> option to just build the plumbing assemblies/wire the pump, and to
> finish the system at your home later. We'll have a few pipe vices to
> work from.
>
> Girl Mark
>
> --
> Steve Spence
> Dir., Green Trust, http://www.green-trust.org
> Contributing Editor, http://www.off-grid.net
> http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn.html

Dave Hinz

2005-09-22, 5:21 pm

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 12:10:01 -0700, GeekBoy <GeekBoy@Geeks.com> wrote:
>
> Does the water have to be electric? Why not propane or natural gas? Seems
> that would be more better suited for effeciency.

How so? Electric water heaters convert 100% of the energy into what you
want, heat. I'm on time-of-use electrical billing, so it's cheaper for
me to heat water with off-peak-rate electricity than it is to heat with
propane. So, regardless of which definition for "efficiency" you're
using, electric is the right solution for me.

GeekBoy

2005-09-22, 8:21 pm

"Dave Hinz" <DaveHinz@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:3pgep3Facvu0U2@individual.net...
> On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 12:10:01 -0700, GeekBoy <GeekBoy@Geeks.com> wrote:
>
> How so? Electric water heaters convert 100% of the energy into what you
> want, heat. I'm on time-of-use electrical billing, so it's cheaper for
> me to heat water with off-peak-rate electricity than it is to heat with
> propane. So, regardless of which definition for "efficiency" you're
> using, electric is the right solution for me.
>

You use less gas than it takes electric to make the same heat.

Anyway what if you are in an area that has no electricity?

Steve Spence

2005-09-23, 11:21 am

GeekBoy wrote:
> "Steve Spence" <sspence@green-trust.org> wrote in message
> news:fBzYe.11417$H24.6389@fe11.lga...
>
>
>
> Does the water have to be electric? Why not propane or natural gas? Seems
> that would be more better suited for effeciency.
>

methanol fumes and flames are not good bed partners. efficiency does not
need to be considered as the heater only needs to run for less than an
hour most times to heat the oil, then gets shut off when you add the
methoxide and mix.

--
Steve Spence
Dir., Green Trust, http://www.green-trust.org
Contributing Editor, http://www.off-grid.net
http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn.html

LinkBot